Extra Story: Reunion
“Another assault incident!”
In one room of an office building bearing a sign that read ‘Development Department 3,’ about half of the department’s employees had gathered before business hours began. They were reading magazines and listening to the news on their phones.
“This incident happened in broad daylight. What do you think, everyone?” One employee started to watch a talk show on his phone. The grumbling of their guest stars droned on.
The commentator responded. “It’s quite the unfortunate event, but I’m more curious about the actions of the man they arrested.”
“What do you mean?”
“Take a look at this flip-book. It contains a summary of the events.”
The commentator took out a flip-book that detailed everything from the moments before the incident to the arrest of the suspect. It was put in simple terms to make it easy for the audience to understand.
“It looks like the victim and the culprit were friends.”
“Yes, they happened to encounter each other in the restaurant and sat by each other, according to the testimony of some women sitting near them. The perpetrator had already been drinking for two hours at that point and was quite drunk. A casual comment from the man next to him triggered the incident.”
The death of their coworker Takebayashi, and the arrest of Iguchi, got an explosion of coverage from the news and online. It harmed the man’s reputation, so he was drinking to relieve the stress from it. It was unclear if his friend expressed ill will toward him or if he was concerned and trying to help. Either way, this was caused when the topic of the company was brought up.
“Right after he struck the victim on the head with a bottle, there was an uproar in the restaurant, the man was restrained by its employees, and he was swiftly taken to the police. After his arrest, the man claimed that he thought this friend was his boss and that he had nothing against him, admitting to the assault, but purporting that it was an accident.”
The news continued. The man watching it on his phone sighed for the umpteenth time.
“Someone just had to pour fuel on the fire again.”
“Tabuchi, this is hardly just a fire anymore. It’s a goddamn inferno!”
When Tabuchi looked up from his phone, a female employee thrust a magazine in front of his face. It exposed how the very coworker being reported about on television committed similar acts on a daily basis, and that he had previously done the same to Takebayashi.
“And that’s not all. Look at this. It’s an online article from the same magazine company. I dunno how they got this, but there’s a video too.”
“Wow, that’s definitely Hosoya and Takebayashi. His face is blurred out, but judging by the suit and voice, that’s the department chief with them too.”
“Has to be. Only a matter of time till the chief gets implicated too, I’d think.”
“The comments are already demanding that they show his face. Iguchi, Hosoya, and now presumably the chief are all getting arrested, and a whole bunch else about the harmful practices at this company is being leaked.”
“I think this place might be done for.”
The employees were uneasy and had no hope for the company, but some were a little optimistic. They felt like they may lose their jobs, but that was understandable. And the eldest of them, Baba, had secretly spoken to them about finding employment elsewhere, so there was hope to be found there. Without that, they may not have been able to discuss these incidents so laxly. Despite the company’s crisis, this department was somehow relaxed.
Suddenly, a man barged in and said, “Hey, everyone! How’s it going?”
“Chief?!”
“Good morning!”
When they noticed who it was, the employees promptly greeted him. The chief gave them a wide smile and told them to take it easy. But the employees could only find his intrusion unsettling.
“One of our coworkers just died, and two were arrested.”
“Obviously it’s not going well.”
“Hell, what’re you in such a good mood for?”
“Hm? Say something?”
The employees muttered their complaints, but thankfully the chief didn’t hear. But the magazines in their hands caught his eyes.
“What are these magazines?”
“Oh, well...”
“Never mind, work hasn’t started yet, it’s fine. You work here, after all. I’m sure you want to know how the company’s doing.”
The chief seemed to have some idea as to what was in those magazines, but he was lenient with them nonetheless. The employees of Department 3 knew that he would normally shout at them to do their jobs if they were reading a magazine, whether it was before working hours or not. His behavior confounded them.
Baba stepped up to confront him and ask for the truth. “Chief, what brings you here today?”
“You’re here too, Baba? Perfect! There are a few things I need to tell everyone. Listen carefully.” The chief waited for our attention, then cleared his throat and started talking again. “It’s been nothing but bad news lately, but today I come bearing good news. The company will be holding a funeral for Takebayashi.
“Now, before you say anything, let me finish,” the chief said, spreading his arms and silencing the employees when they started to chatter. “I know what you want to say. Our company hasn’t done anything of the sort in its history. But Takebayashi worked here for, what, ten? At least ten years? In deference to his contributions to the company, the big wigs are offering to give him a proper sendoff. This isn’t something we’d normally do for just some random employee, you know. This is a huge honor! I’m sure Takebayashi would be happy! Now clap!” he demanded for some reason, so the employees clapped by reflex. But the chief looked sour about it. “Now, Baba.”
“Yes?” Baba answered.
The chief held out his right hand. “Give me a handshake, Baba.”
“Uh, okay.”
“Congrats. Starting today, you’re the chief of this department!”
“Then what does that make you, Chief?”
“After the incident with Iguchi, and now the incident with Hosoya yesterday, someone has to take responsibility for all these scandals. For my failure to manage my employees, I’ll be getting demoted. That’s why you’re the chief now. You’ll be taking over this department. Now, everyone, clap!”
We started to clap again, but louder than before, and with less discomfort from anyone. Until the ex-chief opened his mouth again, at least.
“So, Baba, now that you’ve been appointed as chief, you’ve got a job to do. At a meeting last night, the top brass decided to hold a press conference about these scandals. As the chief of Department 3, you need to attend.”
“What?!”
“Hey!”
“That will be all! Baba, go to Meeting Room 3 on the fifth floor at 11. You need to prepare for the press conference.”
“Chief, wait!”
“You’re the chief now, Baba. It’s already official. As Takebayashi’s former boss, I have to prepare for the funeral, so I’ll be going now. I’ll work with you on inheriting my duties later. At any rate, Baba, go to Meeting Room 3 on the fifth floor today at 11. Don’t forget. That aside, do your jobs as normal!”
The ex-chief ignored the chaos and left before anyone could argue. The employees were left with more rage than they could express in words.
“What a fucking ghoul!”
“I thought he was humbly stepping down, but he just didn’t want to be the scapegoat at this press conference, I guess.”
“And what are they trying to pull, holding a funeral for Takebayashi now?”
“Not only are they being pushy with it, but it’s obviously just a way for them to save face.”
“So they’re gonna keep exploiting him even when he’s dead, huh?”
As everyone else complained about how unfair it was, Baba remained silent. Tabuchi noticed this and approached him.
“I suppose this is perfect.”
“Baba?”
“Uh... oh, Tabuchi. What is it?”
“Well, you suddenly went quiet, so I was wondering if you were okay. What do you mean by ‘this is perfect’? It seems to me like you only stand to lose from this.”
“Well, they might use me as a scapegoat. But depending on how you think about it, this could prove beneficial.” The positive words from the person who stood to lose the most drew everyone’s attention. “At any rate, I’m the chief now, so I’m not one to argue. So, as the chief, I have one order for you. Write your letter of resignation immediately.”
“Wait a second! What are you talking about?”
“Maybe I’m being too hasty. But remember what we discussed. This is a chance to take one step toward that,” Baba said, listlessly scratching his head.
Quitting the company required going through a whole process. Rather than just submitting a letter of resignation and being done with it, a number of things had to be exchanged between the company and the employee. Typically, a request to resign had to be submitted to one’s boss one or two months before the resignation date. But that boss usually rejected requests to resign.
“That’s why we’ve had employees who suddenly stopped coming to work. You’ve all seen it happen many times, right?” Baba asked. Nobody responded because it went without saying that it was true. “But now, I’m your boss. I’ll accept your resignations.”
The constitution of Japan was supposed to guarantee the freedom to choose one’s occupation, and civil law also stated that if a resignation was requested at least two weeks before the resignation date, the employee was free to resign. Companies didn’t normally have the right to reject a resignation request, nor were there regulations that made this company need to extend that two week period to a month. Baba was quick to point out that this was a chance for everyone to submit their resignations.
“The old chief didn’t decide what to do with me. He doesn’t have the right to hold a funeral for Takebayashi, either. These decisions would all have to come from this company’s top brass.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
“I intend to quit this company, but until then, I’m still an employee. Doing your duty for as long as you’re employed is what we must do, as responsible adults.”
Not everyone could fully accept this, but nobody argued.
Baba spoke more to put them at ease. “Besides, to be honest, I’m glad this is happening, in a way. I don’t want to leave here feeling regret about things. Takebayashi, Iguchi, and Hosoya are no strangers to us. At the very least, I want to see this problem through to the end. Maybe it’s a lot to ask, but I’d like to see this settled in a way I can accept. The old chief wasn’t good enough for that, and the upper brass probably know it.”
Baba kept talking for a while.
■ ■ ■
Later that night, Tabuchi was on the train.
“So we made it in the end,” he thought to himself. “Baba’s right... there’s not much we can do. But I’m still not sure about this.”
The many scandals led to a series of canceled orders from the company’s clients. That resulted in a lot of work being put off and a lot of exhaustion. Employees were also let off a little early because of the press conference, so they missed rush hour and there were still seats left open on the train. The rhythmic rumbling of the train was perfect for losing oneself in thought. It could almost put one to sleep.
“Ah?! Wait, what? Oops, I missed my stop,” Tabuchi said as he woke up. He immediately checked to see if his bag was still there, then got off at the next station. “At least I’m still not too far from home.”
Relieved that this mistake wouldn’t affect his job, Tabuchi checked the trains heading in the opposite direction and noticed something. This was the station closest to Takebayashi’s house. In fact, it was the station that he and Iguchi visited on the day that he found the body. Strangely uneasy, Tabuchi headed for the platform on the other side. He didn’t want to stay for too long, but then someone approached him.
“Excuse me!”
“Yes?! What is it?”
Some fairly casual men who looked to be college age surrounded Tabuchi.
“So you were with that guy who did the murder here before, right?”
“You idiot! It wasn’t murder, it was obstruction of a public servant’s duties.”
“You sure? Whatever, I mean the guy in this video.”
One of the men showed a video on his phone. It was the video the ex-chief showed the other day where Iguchi lashed out on a train.
“Oh, we’re not gonna do anything, don’t worry.”
“Yeah, just wanted to talk to you.”
“Ever heard of NowNews?”
“You run a video channel, don’t you?”
“So you do know?!”
Tabuchi did, in fact, know. They were a fairly popular channel on a famous video site. Tabuchi realized that this was the team that produced those videos. And Tabuchi thought they were seriously going to use him as the subject of a video.
“Wait!”
“Hey!”
“I can’t talk about it! Sorry.”
“Wait!”
“Just tell us a little!”
Tabuchi ran past them and down a nearby flight of stairs. He used his prepaid ticket at the gate and left the station. After running for a while longer, he had a question for himself. “Why am I panicking so much?”
Tabuchi was always bad with people like those. Maybe getting surrounded made him lose his composure. If he had stayed there, maybe it really would have gotten frustrating. But he didn’t know if there was such a need to flee like that. Tabuchi sorely lacked exercise, so his body screamed out in pain from the running and forced him to walk and catch his breath.
“Oh? Is that you, Tabuchi?”
“Eep!”
Now someone else took him off guard.
“Did I startle you? Sorry. But we met before, remember?”
“Oh, aren’t you Takebayashi’s neighbor?”
“Urami, yes. What brings you here today?”
“Oh, uh, well, I got off work early, so you know how it is. What about you?”
“Uh, what? Well, I was just on the way home from work myself.”
“Huh?! Oh...”
When Tabuchi started running, he probably went down a familiar path without thinking about it. He found himself just outside Takebayashi’s apartment.
“You seem tired. Would you like to come in?”
Urami and Tabuchi, two men connected to Takebayashi who knew next to nothing about each other, had met once again.
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